Dual-Purpose CuFeO-rGO-Based Nanocomposite for Asymmetric Flexible Supercapacitors and Catalytic Reduction of Nitroaromatic Derivatives.

Energy storage and environmental pollution are two major global concerns in today's scenario. As a result of the momentous exhaustion of fossil fuels, the generation of energy from renewable sources is gaining immense importance. However, the irregular availability of energy from these renewable sources is the major encounter to achieve sustainable energy harvesting technology, yielding efficient but continuous and reliable energy supplies. Apart from the requirement of state-of-the-art heavy-duty technologies such as transportation, defense, etc., in the modern lifestyle to fulfill the demand for flexible electronic devices, the development of high-performance mechanically flexible all-solid-state supercapacitors is increasing massively. On the other hand, to cater to the need for accessibility of clean water for healthy lives, several technologies are evolving to treat wastewater and groundwater. Hence, the development of efficient catalysts for destroying water pollutants is an attractive approach. Considering these two crucial facets, in this paper, we have demonstrated the multifunctional features of a CuFeO-rGO nanocomposite, which was exploited to fabricate a high-performance mechanically flexible all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor and simultaneously used as an efficient but easily recoverable catalyst for the transformation of different nitroaromatic compounds. We have also demonstrated the conversion of trifluralin (a herbicide), which is present in the water body as a pollutant, to its corresponding amine derivatives, which can be utilized in the preparation of important pharmaceutical products.